There will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Luke 2:12

I confess I sometimes sympathize with the Grinch.  I look for ways to stop Christmas from coming. The closer it gets, the more trouble I  have finding signs of anything except materialism, nihilism and human loss.  I desire to flee.

Fortunately, God doesn't think the way I do!  He doesn't run away from us; he comes to find us.  He doesn't condemn us, but looks for the good and the true in us.  He finds it too. The truth is, love and kindness are everywhere, if we are small and still enough to recognize them.

The sign God gives is so simple and quiet, it could so easily be lost in the busyness of commerce - except it's not.  Over the centuries, this sign has spoken to human hearts continually.  Here's the answer to human longing, given without conditions or  condemnations. As often as we overlook that answer, God offers it again. Christmas doesn't happen once a year; it's with us always, as God is with us, forever, unconditionally.

Mary Marrocco

O Lord, you have probed me and you know me. – Psalm 130:1

There are parts of us that we keep secret even from friends.  Like those cursed in a fairy story, we fear to open some doors.  In a quiet moment, what hides in locked rooms creeps out and roams the house. Is it regret or shame or sin? For haunted people it is hard for us to tell.

By any measure it is hard to beat the joy of being known and loved.  A day comes and we let someone into the recesses of the self.  One who is no stranger to  trouble wins our trust.  In fear, we hand our broken parts over to their care.  In amazement we do not vanish.  The power of grace becomes real. Whoever knew that we could be so alive?  In labor, the woman struggles to hang on. With new life come the tears of joy.

God comes knocking. He doesn't plan to stay. In the words of an old prayer, God says "I like what I see."


God, please keep knocking.

 Jeanne Schuler

Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him and said to him, "Here is a true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him." John 1:47

It seems that every time I read from one of the Gospels, a new detail leaps out at me. They are invariably very specific observations about Jesus and those among whom he moved, details about moments in time that are almost casually offered, but are still profound.

So here comes Nathanael - prompted by Philip's invitation to "come and see" what good could come out of Nazareth - approaching Jesus.  This Jesus who, of course, sizes him up right away, remarking to his friends that here is a man without guile (as other translations say).

What if I were in Nathanael's shoes, approaching Jesus as he waits?  Would I, too, be one without guile?  Or would there be something I would be trying to hide, even from Christ?

Lord Jesus, I am here before you. See me as I am.

Amy Welborn

The floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. —Matthew 7:25

A few years ago, during the 500-year flooding in the Midwest, our local river nearly reached my friends' back door. I called to offer whatever help I could, but their response was calm. Their house sat atop a slight incline. It was just high enough, a few feet from the swollen river's edge. Dramatic as the flooding was, I was more struck by my friends' lack of anxiety. It was not a blind naïveté. Their home could have been a total loss, like many others' were. But they are people of faith, and I think their reaction would have been very much the same no mater what befell them: "We're okay. God is with us here." I think trust in God looks very much my friends' stoic confidence that everything will be all right - not because nothing bad can happen, but because we believe that God will be with us when it does.

Loving God, help me to trust that you will be with me during all the difficult times of my life. Karla Manternach

If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light; but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be filled with darkness. —Matthew 6, 22-23

One day a friend and I exchanged glasses.  How strange everything looked!  What a relief to get mine back.  When I wear them, my world works; without them everything blurs.It's not so easy to put on and off the lenses Jesus talks about.  How do we see properly, rather than through the lenses of fear, shame, defensiveness: the many things that fill us with darkness?

The best answer is prayer.  Without time for prayer, we're apt to be misled by our own egos. The first time I entered a silent retreat, I was amazed to discover anger.  A little later, amazed still to realize the anger wasn't "out there", somebody else's doing.  It was within me!  I'd been in the darkness of self-ignorance.  Through the lenses of prayer, I what I was carrying, and so came a few steps closer to being freed of Lord!  Heal my inner vision, that I might be filled with you.

Mary Marrocco

Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope … 1 Peter 3:15

Naturally and constantly curious, I'm inclined to ask wisdom figures and others whose lives have been a witness to me, "How did you get to be the way that you are?" I want to know what makes them tick. I especially want to know how they've continued to be faithful to works of justice and peace over the long haul, often without seeing any tangible results or desired outcomes. How do they keep their hope alive in a world where it often seems the powers of cynicism and pessimism will dash it to bits?

The answers I receive from these holy ones reveal an unshaken belief that God is at work in our world, that social sin will not be allowed to have the last word, that with God, promises made are promises kept.

Loving God, fill my heart today with this same reason for hope.

Sr. Chris Koelhoffer, I.H.M.

Serve the Lord with gladness. Psalm 100:2

Each of us is called to "serve the Lord" in some way, no matter what our situation in life. Whether we are youthful or aged, limited by illness or actively engaged, we can share the gift of our presence in some positive way.

It never ceases to surprise me how little it takes to bring joy into another person's life. Often our service is simply the attitude we have toward ourselves and others. Sometimes our service consists of very small deeds. We can serve gladly by something so simple as offering a genuine smile when we would prefer a sigh of exasperation or pausing to listen rather than to speak about ourselves. When we respond to others "with gladness" instead of self-oriented gratification, we are extending the kind of spirit that the psalmist encourages. Whenever we start feeling grumpy, full of self-pity or constantly annoyed, it is time to check our motivation for why we act the way we do. It is time to reflect on serving the Lord with gladness.
Sr. Joyce Rupp, O.S,M.

My sheep hear my voice; I know them and they follow me. John 10:27

My morning meditations are the times I set aside to listen for the voice of Jesus. However valiant my efforts, though, I spend most of the time listening to the noise in my own head and spiraling off into distractions over plans for the coming day, replaying events of the previous day, figuring out finances or relationships or even letting the cat out. It can seem that I am wasting my time and would be better served by getting an extra half hour of sleep. But when I have complained of this to my spiritual directors, they have reassured me that my time is not wasted.  Indeed, St Paul tells us, "we do not know how to pray … but the Spirit itself intercedes" (Romans 8:26).

So in dedicating myself to my half hour of effort each morning, I am giving the Spirit opportunity to intercede so that Jesus will know me, and I will manage to follow him more than I stray.

Aileen O'Donoghue

O Holy Spirit of God, awaken me to God's voice deep within me and pray in me when I cannot pray.

I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me … I will lay down my life for my sheep. John 10: 14-15

As a child, the first piece of Scripture I ever memorized was Psalm 23.  Those  first five words, "The Lord is my shepherd," are so engrained in my memory that I cannot imagine not knowing them.  Growing up as a city kid, I didn't have many opportunities to see either sheep or shepherds, but I have known for a long time that I had a relationship with Christ like that of a sheep to its shepherd.

Within that relationship resides the beauty of our faith. For our faith is not blind, nor is it childish and irrational belief in something that cannot be seen. Our faith is alive and as real as a shepherd sitting on an ancient hillside, his hand on the napes of our necks and his eyes never resting as he scans the flock in search of danger. Our faith is about this kind and ever-loving shepherd who has claimed us for his own, knows us by name and has, in fact, already sacrificed his life for our own.

Lord, be my shepherd and my guide.

Steve Givens

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit he saves. Ps. 34:19

I've spent most of my adult life raising and teaching children and young people — my own, of course, but other people's children, too, in classrooms and other settings as well.

So I think a lot about the lessons we, I, teach young people. What's the most important thing I could say, if I had the chance? Would it be about how to succeed? How to flourish? How to fulfill their potential?

The older I get, the more I think that the most important thing I could share with a young person is none of that, but more of what the psalmist says. For we all have moments of being brokenhearted, crushed and feeling alone in the world. What a difference it makes to know that we are not alone at all. It might even be a matter of life and death to know how close God is to us all the time, even — or perhaps especially — when we feel furthest away from him.

Loving God, may I be moved to bring your healing touch to the brokenhearted around me.

Amy Welborn

Prayer for the Morning

The dawn of a new day brings with it fresh possibilities, through your mercy, O Lord.  Fill me not with regret over yesterday or worry about tomorro, but confidence and courage to live in the freedom of the present moment. Here you abide with me in a foretaste of eternal life. Open my heart to receive the good gifts you will offer me today, sure to be enough to sustain me.

I ask this through Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord. Amen

Taken from "Living Faith"

January, February, March 2011

My son, go out and try to find a poor man from among our kinsman exiled here in Nieveh. If he is a sincere worshipper of God, bring him back with you, so that he can share this meal with me. Tobit 2:2

After a long day, hospitality is not on the top of my list.  The only hunger I can sometime think about is my own. Yet here is Tobit refusing to eat until "a poor man" can be brought to his table.  His example reminds me that neighbors and strangers alike need nourishment.

Lately I am beginning my own family and living in a home further away from the parish and relatives.  I'm learning that building community takes planning.  Hosting meals can be a burden, but in these moments, more than food is shared.  Whenever we can manage to respond to the needs of others, we will find that we will be nourished ourselves.

Lord, give me strength and courage to welcome the hungry.

Julia DiSalvo

We have given up everything and followed you. Mark 10:28

What moved Peter to say this?  He'd just heard Jesus tell a rich young man to sell everything: the man went away, possessions intact, plus sadness.  Perhaps Peter was eager to prove his superiority.  Maybe he wanted to make sure all this sacrifice was going to get him somewhere.  Perhaps it was a backhanded complaint about hardships endured, or any indirect way of saying, "I'm scared but I am with you."  Peter could have been learning to tell Jesus,  "I love you."

If I look inside myself, I find all these threads tangled up in my heart.  In a movie I saw. a monk who owns nearly nothing watches sadly as his beautiful red blanket is taken away.  He discovers he needs to let it go, as he has been putting it ahead of his love of Christ.  I found it so hard to watch, I realized I myself have attachments.  If we let them, Jesus' words can illumine the shadowy places of our hearts.

My God!  Help me to let go and let you in.

Mary Marocco

He fashioned the heart of each, he who knows all their works. Psalm 33:15

I've recently come to recognize and appreciate the graciousness of God in my life. When I lost my mother's presence and companionship to death, God graciously sent a brand new friend my way.  When a person I admired recently moved away, God graciously put back into my life someone whose work brought them home again. When I lost my childhood home, God reminded me of my real home which is in God.

Not only in loss do I find God's graciousness. When a butterfly flits past, when the sun rays slink through the clouds, when a friend unexpectedly emails me, when I need a pick-me-up and someone offers to drive me to a park so I can be by the water, I experience God's graciousness.

It is this same graciousness I find mirrored in others throughout my day. Today's psalm speaks of fashioning the hearts of each.

Thank you for fashioning such gracious hearts and please, God, let mine be one of them this day.

Sr. Charlene Hug, S.N.D.

Then, taking the several loaves he gave thanks … Mark 8:6

We are often nagged by fear.  We are worried that we will not have enough - enough time, energy, money, skill or whatever.  We are aware of our very human limitations.

The disciples were also aware of their human limitations.  They had but a few loaves and fish, and before them were 4000 hungry people.  They did not have enough.

Jesus took what they had, blessed it, and in God's overflowing generosity, fed the crowd with even more food left over.  When we give what little we have to our infinite God, God makes it an overflowing plenitude.

Today, as we begin our day, let us offer what we have to God, our few loaves and fish, and ask for the divine blessing.  Then, in God, it will be enough.

Msgr. Stephen J. Rosetti

O loving God, in your boundless generosity, take away our fear and help us to trust in your Divine Providence.

Let your life be free from love of money but be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never forsake you. …" Hebrews 13:5

St. Augustine says we are made for love.  But made for love does not mean we know how to love. Learning to love tells the story of our lives. As in any classroom, we often fail. In whatever absorbs us — work, meetings, sports, cooking, prayer — the call to love can be heard. We seek what we don't fully grasp, even when it is present. And in some ways, love is always present.

St. Paul dispels the myths. To love is not comfortable or easy. Not a surge of feeling, love is a great thirst.  We are called into struggle to find rest. Paul tells us to open our lives to strangers and to treat outsiders as angels in our midst. Prisoners must be shown care as if we were locked up together. Celebrate the promises made before God and the community. Do not fall under the spell of money. Because wealth is already present, our gifts can flow freely.

God, free us from the illusions of love.

Jeanne Schuler

Prayer for Trust

Lord, I am very grateful for the times I can see Your hand at work in my life, the moments I can feel your presence and sense your love for me. But for those other times I pray, dear Lord, that I might have unquenchable trust in you. When I cannot see where my life is headed or how all things work for good for those who love you, I ask for trust that you are in charge. When I do not feel your presence, even when I am at prayer or worshipping at Mass, I ask for trust that you are near. When I feel anything but lovable, remind me that your love keeps the universe in motion, even the small part of it that is me. Amen

Jesus went around to all the towns and villages … Mathew 9-35

The second-graders were asked to draw a picture of "Jesus and Me" in a setting of their choice. Some children depicted themselves playing baseball or football with Jesus. A few were skiing down the slopes with Jesus. One boy was jumping on a trampoline with Jesus, while a girl was enjoying an ice-cream cone with Jesus. But the special aspect of the pictures was this: A conversation was always going on between the child and Jesus.

One child, for example, stands by the ocean with Jesus and says, "Look out, Jesus, here comes a big wave." Another boy walks down the stairs with Jesus saying, "Let's clean the basement, Jesus." Another child says, "Thank you for making ME."

We marvel at how effortlessly these children incorporate Jesus into their lives and how easily they converse with him. How present is Jesus in my daily life? How easily do I talk to him?

Jesus, thank you for being part of my everyday life.

Sr. Melannie Svoboda, S.N.D.

So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God … Ephesians 5:1-2

I have read that for many non-Christians, one of the biggest obstacles to becoming a believer is not theological, but how they see Christians around them acting.  We are not always the best models of the faith.

The questions we must ask ourselves today:  Are we imitating God and His Church in a way that will draw others to the faith?  Are we loving and forgiving?  Do we understand that we are called to serve all, especially "the least of these"? Or do we judge those we perceive to be different? Do we project to others a faith that is characterized by false piety, superiority, hatred and intolerance?

Our call is to a life of love, and anything else will sound flat.  For without love, we have nothing to offer a world yearning to find meaning beyond itself.

God, may I always seek to imitate the pure love I find in you.

Steve Givens

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, generosity, faithfulness, self-control. Galatians 5:22

A friend of mine often observes, "I don't know how to define what a classy person is, but I sure know one when I see one." Being "classy" is an elusive concept, difficult to describe but easily pointed out when we see that quality embodied in the actions and attitudes of a living person.

In the same way, we don't walk around wearing name tags that identify the fruit of the Spirit at work in our lives, but we can recognize peace, patience, kindness, generosity , faithfulness and self-control when we see those virtues in the holy ones who walk among us.  Hopefully, others can also discover those same qualities in the way we relate to the people and events we encounter in our everyday lives.

Holy Spirit, may you be visibly present in the way I move through the world today.

Sr. Chris Koelhoffer, I.H.M.

And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. Luke 17:15-16

When our children are young, we school them in saying "thank you" for any courtesy, gift or praise given them.  What we're really teaching them is awareness, the ability to recognize and name what they've received as grace.  And so it goes for the rest of our lives.  Before we can say thank you, we have to live in awareness of what comes to us as gifts large and small: the start of a new day, a brilliant sunset, a word of affirmation, a job offer, the successful end of a course of treatment, a hug from a child, a relationship on the mend.

Every one of the ten lepers had been healed, but only one recognized and named God's healing presence in his life. Only one realized, returned and gave thanks.

Loving God, lead me into awareness of your gracious gifts to me today.
                                        

Sr. Chris Koellhoffer, I.H.M.

Without Cost You Have Received; Without Cost You Are to Give

Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.

Matthew 10:8

Like the Apostles, we live in a quid-pro-quo society: You help me, and I'll help you. I can help you get a better job, lose weight or learn a new skill, but it'll cost you.

How radical, then, to be directed to help others simply because we can, with no expectation of a return on our investment.  Yet that is precisely what Christ calls us to do: share our gifts without a thought for what we might receive, spiritually, emotionally or financially. And the amazing thing is that when we act in Christ's name, we are repaid far more than we could have ever imagined — in love and faith and growth on our spiritual journeys.

Lord, help me to love the way you desire: unreservedly, with no exception of reward.

—Melanie Rigney

Who do you say that I am?

Who do you say that I am? Matthew 16:15

This was a major turning point. The twelve had been following the Teacher. They had witnessed miracles, heard him teach, watched him pray. But now they had to step out of the shadows and bring into sharp focus
who Jesus was for them: Who do you say that I am?

Upon their answer rested a new level of commitment. After Peter's answer he could no longer go back to the happy early days of Jesus' ministry
with the crowds following him in astonished praise. No, now Jesus spoke of his Passion, of the commitment demanded of anyone who wishes to share
in his life.

For us also, God is often in the background of our life. Situations arise when we have to declare our level of commitment to the Lord. From that point forward he becomes central to our life, not immediately, but in a gradual
daily re-choosing of his way.

Master, you are everything for me. I want to be entirely for you.
May I look in your eyes and promise you my love until my last breath.
Kathryn J. Hermes, F.S.P.

Remember the Covenant I Made With You

I will remember the covenant I made with you… that you may remember … when I pardon you for all that you have done, says the Lord God.  — Ezekiel 16, 63

A friend shared this story with me: Trish, a teenager, asked her seventy-five year old grandmother (a widow for ten years) why she was always so cheerful and upbeat.  Her grandmother replied, "Because every day I remember how much your grandfather loved me."

Knowing we are loved colors our attitude toward life. The love we receive from parents siblings, spouse, children, friends or extended family encourages and sustains us especially during difficult times. But the greatest love we have received is God's love for each one of us — a love that persists despite our sins and failings. God's love is a forgiving love. We are challenged to love in the same way. Whom might I forgive today?  (Hint: start with the person in the mirror.)

Sr. Melannie Svoboda, S.N.D.

Treasures in Heaven

Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.

Matthew 19:24

Our culture is one of striving: We strive for money, more things, more status, more everything. The cliché "more is more" pretty much sums us up. We know we can't take our bank account and our things with us when we leave this world, but it doesn't stop us from trying to amass more that our children and grandchildren will have to divide, distribute or dispose of.  Scripture tells us to store our treasures in heaven, not down here. Maybe we need to spend more time thinking about the kind of collections we want, the things of true value we can enjoy for all eternity.

My mother has always encouraged us to live lives of contentment. Instead of more is more, she maintains enough is enough. When we aren't clutching our things, we can embrace the real treasures. We can be rich in the ways that are pleasing to God.

Kristin Armstrong

LIVING WITH FAITH

Prayer for Peace

O God, you are the source of life and peace.
Praised be your name forever.
We know it is you who turn our minds to thoughts of peace.
Hear our prayer in this time of war.

Your power changes hearts.
Muslims, Christians, Jews remember and proudly affirm
that they are followers of the one God,
children of Abraham, brothers and sisters;
enemies begin to speak to one another;
those who were estranged join hands in friendship;
nations seek the way of peace together.

Strengthen our resolve to give witness to these truths
by the way we live. Give to us:

         Understanding that puts an end to strife;
         Mercy that quenches hatred; and
         Forgiveness that overcomes vengeance.

Empower all people to live in your law of love. Amen.

(Author unknown)